


Catharsis

by scifisentai



Category: Gosei Sentai Dairanger, Juukou B-Fighter
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:55:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15942200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scifisentai/pseuds/scifisentai
Summary: Look, there's nothing tosaythese can't exist in the same universe. >.> A different take on Shadow, because what else do you expect when you cast someone's twin as their evil doppelganger, come on now. Set a few years post- B Fighter.





	Catharsis

**Author's Note:**

> I do have to admit that I haven't seen a whole lot of B Fighter, though, so Takuya may be waaaay OOC, sorry about that. And I'm taking minor liberties with Kazu.

Takuya's head spun and he gripped the doorhandle of the hairdresser's door tightly, unable to believe his eyes. That couldn't be Kazuya over there, laughing with a guy who looked like some kind of punk, small toddler giggling as he bounced between them. It couldn't be, because Kazuya was dead, he _knew_ that. He'd seen it happen with his own eyes, had delivered the final blow with his own hands when there was no other option. So how could Kazuya be _here_ and looking absolutely fine? Was he back to himself, instead of the warped creature his brother had become, going only by the name 'Shadow' instead of Kai Kazuya, with nothing more in his mind than the drive to kill him?

The guy he didn't recognise was the first to see him and his jaw dropped before he nudged Kazuya in the side.

"Oi, Kazu," he hissed, probably trying to be quiet but failing completely. "I thought we got rid of all those creepy clone things."

Takuya gaped at that - both at the mention of clones (why?) and the casual familiarity the guy had with his twin - but he didn't have time to do more that as Kazuya was also turning to look at him. As he continued to gape, the smile that Kazuya had been wearing vanished, his expression closing off in a way that was eerily remiscent of Shadow at his coldest. "Kazuya," he said quietly, more to see how his brother, if it really was him, would react than in greeting. "Long time no see."

This could very easily not go well. Before his apparent death the last time they'd seen each other they'd been battling each other, him hitting Kazuya with the full force of his Super Mode before Kazuya ran him through with his sword in return.

"Kazu," the other guy said again when Kazuya didn't reply. "Who is this guy? Why does he look like you if he ain't one of the photo clones? And why's he calling you 'Kazuya'? It's freaking me out, here."

The little boy was watching him intently, then he beamed and started to run over to him before Kazuya grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged him back. "Stay here, Kaoru." The little boy pouted but plopped himself down on the floor between Kazuya's feet. Was he Kazuya's son, then? He'd assumed the boy was the other guy's son, but... could he be Kazuya's? If he was, it hurt that Kazuya didn't want his son anywhere near him, but maybe it was only to be expected.

"Kazuya," he said again, more certain now that the man in front of him was his brother; the voice was the same and the reaction was certainly in character. He didn't know how and he didn't know why but his brother was alive and, as far as he could tell, back to normal.

"Takuya," Kazuya replied eventually, resignation in his voice. "Shoji, meet my brother, Takuya. He's calling me Kazuya because that's my full name."

"Huh. Wait, what? Since when do you have a brother?"

"Since he was born," Takuya put in, unable to help himself. It shouldn't surprise him that Kazuya had never mentioned him to his friends, but it did nonetheless and it hurt more than he'd expected.

Kazuya flashed him a look that said more loudly than words ever could that he should shut up. It would be a good idea, shutting up, unfortunately that wasn't going to happen.

"Why didn't you let me know?" Even as he blurted the question out he wasn't entirely sure what he was asking about; why hadn't Kazuya let him know he wasn't dead, why he hadn't told him about his nephew, why had he run away from home at fifteen and never looked back? He had so many questions and yet he was afraid of hearing the answers.

"About what?"

He sounded so different, Takuya thought. Urbane and polished, completely different from his teenage self, from Shadow, from any of the Kazuyas he had in his memories. Which was the real one? " _Anything,_ " he said in exasperation.

"Why would I?" Kazuya shrugged, leaning against one of the styling chairs. "It's not as if we were ever close."

If the coolness and distance had hurt before that bland statement was even worse, cutting through him just as sharply as Shadow's sword had. He forced a faint smile onto his face even as the other man - Shoji? - shot Kazuya a sharp look. "Well, that's true enough, I guess," he said, fingers squeezing the doorhandle tightly as he tried to stay in control. "We never really were, were we?"

Maybe they had been, once. When they were small and it was great fun to confuse the grown ups over which twin was which, but those days were long gone and as they'd grown up they'd grown apart until they were all but strangers who happened to have the same face. And then Kazuya had run away and he was left alone to try and find out who he was as just Takuya instead of Takuya-and-Kazuya; even estranged they were still counted as one entity by other people. He hadn't even seen it coming. How pathetic was that?

"You're doing alright, though?" he asked, desperately trying to keep this going in face of the blank mask Kazuya had perfected over the years, trying to figure out how his brother was feeling behind it. "Married now, I suppose," he added, gesturing at the little boy to clarify. Though, if he was it was something of a surprise to him. Kazuya hadn't exactly been interested in _girls_ growing up.

"No," his brother replied coolly and Shoji-san's snort of amusement was loud in the quiet of the room. "I'm not."

Takuya glanced at the boy in confusion. If he wasn't married then where had the kid _come_ from?

"Not here," Kazuya said warningly and he nodded reluctantly. There was so much to say but Kazuya was probably just as reluctant to talk about it in front of other people as he was. These were _their_ problems and no one's business but their own. "Why are you here, anyway?"

Takuya blinked, then remembered where he was. "Um. My hair needs cutting."

"I see."

The look Kazuya gave him was long and steady and he felt himself flushing. "I know, okay? Don't worry, I'll go somewhere else. I won't intrude on you anymore."

He was almost out the door when he heard Kazuya sigh. "Sit down, Takuya."

He turned back, eyebrows raised in surprise. Kazuya had pulled the chair out and was pointing at it with a comb. Takuya still couldn't tell what he was thinking but he grinned a little anyway. Kazuya wasn't kicking him out, wasn't refusing to have anything to do with him, was, in fact, volunteering to do his hair himself. He would take that.

"Shoji."

Kazuya didn't say anything else but there was an aggrieved sigh behind him and he could see the other man pulling a face in the mirror.

"C'mon Kaoru," he said, holding out a hand for the boy's. "Let's go for a walk."

"But Papa--"

"Papa's working now. Remember, we don't disturb him then, do we?"

"No." The reply was reluctant and the pout on his face was kind of adorable.

"C'mon then. We'll go get some ice cream or something, 'kay?"

"Okay!" The boy's face lit up and Kazuya's look of horror was comical.

"No ice cream! He won't eat dinner otherwise."

"A nice _biiiig_ ice cream," Shoji-san continued. "But we have to eat all of dinner later otherwise Papa will be grumpy. Deal?"

"Yup!"

Kazuya sighed as they made their escape and Takuya dared a smile up at him. Kazuya shook his head and returned his attention to the job at hand, some of his walls going back up as their eyes met in the mirror. "Alright," Kazuya said, hands resting lightly on the back of the chair. "What did you want done?"

"Just a trim," Takuya replied. "My fringe is getting in my eyes and it's getting on my nerves."

"Okay."

"I really am glad you're alright," he said softly a few minutes later, once Kazuya was settled into his work. "I thought you were dead."

Kazuya hesitated a moment, his calm mask cracking just for a moment. "Likewise." He gripped the comb tightly. "I'm sorry about... that."

Takuya shook his head briefly. Even if the place was quiet at the moment this wasn't really the place to talk about certain things, this being one of them. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Kazuya shrugged. "Honestly? I don't remember a lot, just... bits and pieces here and there." He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't remember who Kaoru's mother was. I know he's mine but anything else... All blank. Most of what I do remember is about you."

"Are you still angry with me?" There were many good reasons for Kazuya to be angry with him but he hoped that maybe the edges at least had worn off. Seeing his brother again, albeit in the form of Shadow, had made him realise just how much he'd missed him over the past ten plus years and he wanted to fix things if he could.

"A little," Kazuya admitted finally, having focused on trimming the ends of his hair and running his fingers through them to get loose bits out. "But not _that_ angry. Then again, I didn't think I was that angry before either. I thought I was over most of it."

"You know... I never meant that what you wanted to do was useless," Takuya muttered, well aware of the irony implicit in this whole scenario.

"No, you just thought I should do what _you_ were doing, in spite of me not caring all that much about science - especially not about bugs - and doing anything else would be wasting my time."

Takuya opened his mouth to argue and found that he couldn't. He hadn't meant to dismiss Kazuya's dreams for his life but he had all the same. "I just... you're really smart, Kazuya. You could have done anything you wanted to."

"I am doing what I want to," his brother pointed out, scissors snipping away at his hair. "I like my job, Takuya. Going into academia was always your dream, not mine."

"Is that why you left?" The words were out before he could stop them and he nearly cringed, remembering barely in time that Kazuya had scissors in his hair.

"No," Kazuya replied, sounding calmer than he expected and he looked up at him in surprise.

"No?"

"No."

"Then why?"

"A lot of reasons."

Reasons he clearly wasn't going to go into here. "Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

"You'd have tried to stop me," Kazuya pointed out and Takuya couldn't fault that logic.

"But--"

"But what?"

"Didn't you know how dangerous it would be? You could have gotten into real trouble, you know. What would you have done if something had happened?"

"I know. But things worked out alright in the end and I'm happy with how things are going for me right now."

Takuya thought about that for a few minutes as Kazuya neatened up the ends of his hair. "That Shoji guy," he said eventually, noting how Kazuya went still at the mention of his name. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yes." The answer was simple and there was no hesitation there, but the look on Kazuya's face was daring him to make something of it.

"I thought so. Doesn't really seem like your type, though."

"And you would know that how?"

"He looks like a punk!" he protested, well aware that he was skating on thin ice now.

"So?"

"You never used to be interested in the bad boys."

"I'm still not."

"But--"

"Drop it." Kazuya's voice was firm and he held the scissors up over Takuya's head so he couldn't miss seeing them in the mirror. "You don't want to know what damage I could do with these if I wanted to."

He shut up, kicking himself mentally. They hadn't seen each other - really seen each other, Shadow didn't count - for over a decade, the last thing he should be doing was prying into Kazuya's private life when he had no business doing that. There were things he wanted answers for, like what had happened to Kazuya to turn him into Shadow, why he didn't remember so much of what happened during that time and he wouldn't get those answers if he annoyed his brother so much he cut off ties with him again. "Sorry. It's none of my business."

"No, it isn't."

The silence that followed was awkward and he was relieved, guiltily so, when Kazuya finished, dusting off his back and shoulders with a brush before stepping away. "Thank you," he said and Kazuya's fingers flicked a dismissive 'don't worry about it' gesture in his direction. "Kazuya... is it okay if I stop by here again?"

His brother shrugged, studiously busying himself with straightening up his equipment. "Do what you want."

"I'm taking that as a yes, then," Takuya told him, draping his jacket over his arm and fishing his wallet out of a pocket. "Last chance to tell me to buzz off."

Kazuya looked up and gave him a sceptical look. "Like that's ever stopped you before."

Takuya laughed nervously. "I mean it, though. If you don't want me around I won't push in."

"Did I say I didn't want you around?" Kazuya retorted. "Come if you want, don't if you don't. It's up to you."

"I'll see you around, then," he replied, watching his brother carefully.

"Fine."

It seemed that was all he was getting but since he was still okay to stop by and hopefully catch up at an unspecified later date, well, it would do.

"And don't leave it so late with your hair next time," Kazuya continued as he moved over to the till to pay. "Don't wait until it's annoying you before you get it cut."

He gave his brother a brief salute, not bothering to hide the smile on his face. "I won't."

He waited for his change, then headed for the door. Just as he was leaving, Shoji-san and Kaoru came back in, the little boy holding the remnants of an ice cream cone in his hands, ice cream all over his face.

"Good luck," he said under his breath, recognising the tone in Kazuya's voice as he saw them. It seemed that Shoji-san did as well as he winced at the beginnings of the scolding.

Takuya hadn't got far when he heard someone shouting after him. He turned to find Shoji-san behind him, his run slowing to a jog until finally he stopped right in front of him. "Yes?"

"I just wanna tell you something," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "I don't know what the problem is between you two and I ain't asking, but as long as you want to patch things up it's fine. Just don't screw it up again. Kazu's been through enough already, I don't wanna have to pick up the pieces again. Alright?"

Takuya stiffened, not appreciating the warning-slash-threat."I have no intention of hurting him," he said stiffly, just about refraining from adding how it was none of his business and that threatening him wasn't a particularly good idea.

"Good. See that you don't." And with that, Kazuya's boyfriend turned and started jogging back in the direction of the salon. Letting his irritation at the attitude fade, Takuya conceded it was probably a good thing that Kazuya's boyfriend was looking out for him, but he didn't think Kazuya would appreciate the 'warning' either. Still, at least it meant they were all on the same page, or as close as was possible.

Sticking his hands in the pockets of his trousers, Takuya headed on home, wondering if he should mention to Mai and Daisaku that Kazuya wasn't dead after all.

...Maybe not. Or at least, not yet. He knew it still upset them when something came up to remind them that he'd died that time. This would be complicated enough, it would be better not to bring them into this just yet. He would eventually, but for now he wanted to keep Kazuya and his miraculous survival to himself.


End file.
